Awards

Titled Professor - 2021

Chancellor's Professor

President's Award for Distinguished Teaching - 2008

About Neovi M. Karakatsanis

Neovi M. Karakatsanis earned her Ph.D. from Ohio State University in 1996. Her areas of study include European politics, comparative politics, international relations, and international political economy. She began her teaching career at Indiana University South Bend (IUSB) in 1998 as an assistant professor of political science in the Division of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She was promoted to associate professor in 2004 and full professor in 2011. She began serving as the Director of the Honor’s Program in August 2015. She is also a faculty advisor at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Advising Center, where she helps undecided students choose a major.

At IUSB, Karakatsanis’ teaches a summer course on political science and the European Union (EU). Students learn about the EU and then embark on a 15-day voyage to experience it for themselves. In 2007, she accompanied her students to Brussels, Belgium; Luxembourg; Strasbourg, France; and Paris. They met members of the European Parliament, toured buildings such as NATO headquarters, stayed with host families, and explored European culture.

Karakatsanis also leads IU South Bend's Midwest Model European Union delegation. Each spring students in her Politics of European Integration course study the EU, prepare policy proposals, and then put their knowledge to work at the conference, where they role-play EU officials and government ministers, deliberating and debating policies.

In addition to the international themes of her courses, Karakatsanis has been instrumental in internationalizing IU South Bend's curriculum. She helped develop minors in international studies and European studies, and as chair of the Overseas Study Subcommittee of IU South Bend's International Programs Committee, she has worked to increase the number of study abroad scholarships at IU South Bend, starting with the creation of the David Starr Jordan Scholarship.

She has served as a research mentor for more than 70 students who have made 16 presentations at conferences and successfully applied for more than $9,000 in IU South Bend Student/Mentor Academic Research Teams (SMART) grants.

IU South Bend awarded Karakatsanis its 2007 Distinguished Teaching Award. She has also been recognized by the American Political Science Association (Outstanding Teaching in Political Science, 2003), the IU South Bend Student Government Association (Faculty Member of the Year, 2003), and the IU Faculty Colloquium on Excellence in Teaching (FACET), which inducted her in 2003. Since 1997, she has been a fellow in Princeton University's Southern European Studies Research Group.